Bosnian Serb leader sentence cut

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has cut seven years off the prison sentence of former Bosnian Serb leader Momcilo Krajisnik.

Appeals Chamber judges overturned Krajisnik's convictions for the murder, extermination and persecution of non-Serbs during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

But he must still serve 20 years in jail for the deportation, forcible transfer and persecution of civilians.

Krajisnik was a close aide to ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.

Although the court said there was "insufficient evidence" to prove charges of genocide and complicity in genocide, it found him to have been part of a joint criminal enterprise that carried out the extermination, murder, persecution and deportation of non-Serbs.

But on Tuesday, the ICTY Appeals Chamber at The Hague quashed the convictions of "murder, extermination and persecution, other than that based on deportation and forcible transfer".

It said the testimony given by Mr Karadzic in defence of his former aide had not been "sufficient to undermine the extensive evidence" of the seniority and control he had exercised during the conflict.

The new sentence, which Judge Pocar described as "severe and proportionate", will take into account time Krajisnik has spent in custody since April 2000.